The provision of channel stop zones in semiconductor components is sufficiently known. Such channel stop zones, which are also referred to as channel stoppers, are used for example in power components, such as power diodes, power IGBTs or power MOSFETs. They serve for increasing the static blocking capability of the component in that they delimit a space charge zone that propagates in the direction of the edge when the component is turned off.
Particularly in the case of power components, extremely high current densities brought about by so-called current splitting operations can occur locally during operation, in particular during the turn-off processes. Such current splitting processes may be triggered by dynamic effects, in particular in combination with inhomogeneities in the region of an edge termination, such as, by way of example, inhomogeneities of the doping, the charge carrier lifetime or the surface or interface charge, but also external influences. Such external influences are for example a locally varying moisture at the surface of the semiconductor body.
In order to minimize the influence of such dynamic effects, it is known for a basic doping of the semiconductor body to be chosen to be as high as possible. However, this limits the static blocking capability and also the robustness toward cosmic radiation.